The controversy over the suspension of Kyle Busch for Sunday's Sprint Cup race couldn't put out the fire caused by "Smoke."
Tony Stewart won the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, his fourth win of the season — all coming during the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy paced the field for 173 of 334 laps, earning the five maximum bonus points allowed in a race. As for Stewart, his four wins tie Jimmie Johnson's championship run in 2007 for the most victories during a single 10-race playoff.
In terms of points, however, Stewart may have wanted to make up a little more ground. Carl Edwards led 14 laps and finished second Sunday, seeing his lead cut from eight to three points with two races remaining.
A cool track caused by overcast conditions in Fort Worth provided easier grip and a quicker pace on the 1.5-mile superspeedway, allowing for a track-record-tying five cautions and 21 laps ran under the yellow flag, the fewest in Texas Motor Speedway history.
The fast race allowed for the final 60 laps to go caution-free, allowing some teams simply hungry for a great finish to make the fuel-mileage gamble. Ryan Newman passed Jeff Burton for the lead on Lap 319, as the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevy seemed to conserve more fuel than the No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing member of the "Bowtie Brigade."
Newman paid the price for charging a bit too hard a few laps later, running out of gas and returning the top spot to Burton with 10 laps remaining.
Five laps later, Burton ran out of gas himself, giving the lead and the victory to Stewart.
Rounding out the top 10 were Kasey Kahne (led 5 laps), Matt Kenseth (led 87 laps), Greg Biffle (led 23 laps), Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer and AJ Allmendinger.
Michael McDowell, replacing Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing after Busch's actions Friday night in the Camping World Truck Series race, struggled to a 33rd-place finish, three laps behind Stewart. No ruling has been made regarding Busch's status for next weekend.
Stewart and Edwards appear to be the only two drivers with a legitimate shot at winning the Sprint Cup title, but there are a couple of outsiders with a shot at the title. Kevin Harvick, who finished 13th, is third (33 points behind) in the points standings, while Kenseth is fourth (-38).
The Chase resumes next Sunday from Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Ariz., as the 1-mile track plays host to the Kobalt Tools 500K.
Image courtesy of www.espndallas.com
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